Enjoy games, food and more at a community festival hosted by Kandivali residents

Residents work on the upcoming edition of the festival. Pics/Nimesh Dave

At a time when urban Indians can barely claim to know their next-door neighbours, the residents of Thakur Village in Kandivali have been celebrating their neighbourhood and their community with a festival they started nine years ago. The Sarova Street Konnect brings residents together, gets them to bond and to take up community-related initiatives.

"The first Street Konnect that took place was quite different from what it is today. Some of us who were residents, were participants of events already, but for our own buildings or societies. I remember we brought things from our houses and decorated the streets with our dupattas, tables and furniture from our own homes," shares Shaheen Desai, co-founder of Street Konnect. "It was a crowdfunded event. We spent money from our pockets and expected only 500 people to turn up, but we had a footfall of 3,000 people," she adds.

The festival will witness residents contribute with time and sustainable material to be reused at the events

The current event features a kid's zone, a main stage for performances and activities, games and food stalls put up by homemakers and home chefs. The organising team has also tied up with various NGOs, and a school for children with intellectual disability. One can also expect to learn bhangra, salsa and folk fusion in the Fitness Zone, indulge in creative art processes in the Art Zone, bring pets for agility training in the Pet Zone, shop for handmade merchandise at stalls or even get a foot massage.

"We try to advocate sustainable lifestyle practices in whatever event we do. The Barter Bazaar is an idea that we came up with since consumerism is increasing day by day. There was a time when we would reuse things, clothes and appliances from our siblings, relatives, or even friends, and we did not have any qualms about it. These days children are simply used to buying things. Everything has to be new and no one wants a hand-me-down, even if something is in good condition," Desai says, adding that, "In the Barter Bazaar, we have categories of things such as table-top accessories for décor, home décor, books, plants, women's accessories and sports equipment among other things. Whatever remains, we always donate to a local NGO. We also have a section wherein one can barter talent. People really look forward to this festival."

The team behind the festival poses for a group photograph

Other highlights of the festival include a Compost Mela conducted in association with BMC and a Farmers' Market. "The BMC had a flower and plant show, and we had the Compost Mela. When composting was still new in the locality, we bought together composters for industrial-level or home-level composting, under one roof. There were workshops and exhibitors that came up with different ideas and different methods for composting," Desai explains.

This year, a new concept called Ados Pados, has also been introduced. The festival will provide a platform to all societies in Thakur Village to share their best practices and exchange ideas/projects/new initiatives with each other. Each society will highlight its success stories. "Different societies are doing great work. We have somebody doing rainwater harvesting, while another has a crisis management group for medical emergencies. We wanted to give a platform to all the societies so that they have a space where they are happy to share their ideas, learn from each other and enjoy the time they have without being competitive," shares Desai.

Visitors view the rangoli decoration at a previous edition

Last year, the festival witnessed a footfall of 15,000 visitors. In the last three years, the festival has had sponsorship and has been able to scale up the event, but still focuses mainly on homegrown talent.

On: January 28; 7 am to 2 pm
At: Crossroads of Oberoi Park View and Viceroy Park, Thakur Village, Kandivali East